Customer Reviews

Photojournalism, Third Edition: A Professional Approach

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Just as Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style" is considered required reading for any writer, Kobre's "Photojournalism, The Professionals' Approach" is an essential instructional manual for the aspiring or advanced photojournalist.

As a working photographer for almost 20 years, I've owned previous editions of Kobre's book and always make it a point to keep one within reach. I recommend it to anyone interested in photojournalism, especially high school and college students. While filled with detailed photographic theory and principles, the format of the book is very easy to follow and introduces fundamentals and advanced techniques with equal ease.

Perhaps my most-read sections are the chapters on ethics and the responsibilities of the photographer to the community they serve. Society requires a photojournalist to be held accountable for their actions; to be honest and compassionate, yet unflinchingly accurate when reporting the news.

Although the price tag is a bit on the high side, the information Kobre shares is priceless.

I have been using Kobre's excellent book as a text for teaching Introductory Photojournalism ever since the first edition; it has always been the best source out there for teaching and has improved with each edition. I consider the current (5th Edition) is be almost "The ONE Textbook" for learning everything you need to know for understanding and practicing Photojournalism. A bit more on layout and design for Picture Stories would make it perfect.
In my full-time job I've been a full-time staff photographer with a large daily newspaper for over 30 years, and still, I come across something new with every reading of this book.

I bought this book for a photography class at Temple University, and it now serves as a wonderful guide and mentor toward all aspects of photojournalism. Readings from this book provided much debate and learning experiences for our class.

For photography students, this book is top notch. For photo editors or freelance photographers, this book may serve as a useful guide, especially in the area of ethics when taking and publishing pictures.

This is a valuable book that will remain on my bookshelf until a new edition rolls out. Through the excellence of this book, the author has earned my loyalty for another edition. Highly recommended.

I wanted to take a Photojournalism course at UCLA extension. But the course schedule conflicted with my schedule (and it was a little expensive). So i looked up and course text book and this was the text. It is very informative and really shows what the photojournalists does. The author really does know his stuff, but he doesn't just share his point of view, he quotes many other journalists too. Covers a lot of material but I particularly like sections regarding what roles photojournalists are to play, the legal aspects of shooting photos and tips to get started in photojournalism. Some bookd are a bore to read and are so superficial and light on material, this one isn't. Interesting photos and good writing makes this a keeper for me. Hope you find it the same way too.

Excellent book! I put off buying it for over a year because I thought it was a bit pricey, but less than a month after reading it one of my photos made the front page of our local newspaper.

The book covers everything you need to know to get started, topics include...

- covering news, features, sports, politics & contemporary issues
- narrative picture stories
- finding features & catching candids
- environmental & interpretive portraits
- creative use of the strobe
- digital shooting & darkroom techniques (Photoshop tutorials included)
- concept photography & illustrations
- newsroom politics
- picture editing
- shooting within the bounds of the law
- controversial pictures & ethical discussions
- expanded history of photojournalism
- freelancing & business practices
- internships and after

If bought new the book also comes with a DVD featuring multiple documentary film shorts which to me is worth $20 alone.

This book covers everything one needs to know, whether one is a professional or just has an interest in photography. It is a beautiful book too with descriptions and gorgeous photographs that one has not necessarily seen before.

The one thing that is off-putting is that several of the chapters are incomplete; in other words, the end of the text of a chapter sometimes finishes in mid-sentence. There are at least three chpaters like this. I assume no one has checked the print job of this 5th edition, but it should be looked at for the 6th edition.

I'm been reading this book for a Photo course. The Material on it is quite interesting and the writing is pretty clear. I have been studing photography for about 3 years now and by far this is one of the best books you could ever hold on your book shell. A++ to a great writter and author. Will recomend this book to other college students that are persuding to go into the a photo journalist aventure like myself.

The book is clear and practical. It goes beyond the normal basic photography skills and gets into the real grit of photojounalism.

I was excited to see this book in Kindle version, and I'm glad I downloaded the sample first.

This is the 4th edition, copyright 2000.

The latest print version is the 6th edition, copyright 2008.

Why on earth are they releasing the Kindle version of an 11-year old edition??!

Anyway, I think the editions are released in 4-year cycles, so I'm expecting the 7th edition to be released next year.

How do I request the Kindle version of the latest edition?

My version is a little older, but remains an excellent resource. There is loads of information about coverage of all kinds of events, from the uncomfortable tragedies to sports to developing story ideas for photo spreads. I don't know how much information the newer books have on digital imaging, but my version has very little. Not a problem, however, as the principals are the same. Like most other books, this alone will not teach you how to take great photographs. You can only learn that from experience. But this will help answer some of your questions if you are looking to develop a photographic style closer to journalism than fine art.